The researcher smiled awkwardly and explained, "Dr. Craw, I didn't look at your analysis on purpose. I was bringing it to your seat and I accidentally..."He paused for a second and assured her, "Don't worry, I won’t mention anything to anyone."After all, before the initiation of every research project, the company would have to review the study’s theoretical support. If he wanted to keep his job, he had to do what Luca said.He just thought that it was a little strange. The data he saw in her analysis did not seem like any ordinary virus.‘Luca's research is not on ordinary viruses?’The company may not approve the project if it were too niche. The profits may be high, but the investments would be excessive as there would not be much existing research and data on the topic.The researcher was worried that Luca's efforts would be in vain.The other researchers looked at each other and were not sure what to say. Luca sat there and was focused on her data set. After a while, Lu
Warren did not ask for more details. After he entered the address, he followed the navigation app and started driving.As soon as the car pulled out to the roadside, Luca noticed that a black Corolla was following them.She put on a faint smile and reminded Warren, "There's a black Corolla following us.""Yes." Warren glanced through the rear mirror and saw the black Corolla she was referring to."This car has been parked near the office," he said. Warren would wander around and inspect while he was waiting for Luca. He was Gale's subordinate and had undergone special training, so he was alert to his surrounding environment."Mm." Luca nodded. ‘It seems that Gale's subordinates are not bad.’"How did you know that they’re after you?" Warren asked."When I was eating lunch, they were taking photos and the flash went off," Luca explained. She was not a movie star who was used to the camera, so she was sensitive to flashes as such.She would not necessarily have noticed if the fla
"I'll head home to cook now." Luca made an excuse, hurriedly unlocked the door, and walked into the apartment.As she stared at the closed apartment door, Mrs. Selley shuddered and sighed as she said, "Youngsters today are so bold. They dare to live anywhere."Mrs. Selley thought of the gust of wind that blew when the door closed just now and shuddered again. "That house is spine-chilling."Luca walked into the apartment and found that the lights were on, indicating that Amur had returned."Amur?" she called out to him.The apartment was empty, and her voice was the only thing that proved that someone was there. Luca was puzzled, so she picked up the phone and called him.Amur answered as soon as the call was connected."Amur, why aren't you in the apartment?" Luca asked."I'm doing some shopping," Amur replied.Luca could hear that the background on his end was a bit noisy. He seemed to be on the street, so she said, "Okay, I'll start cooking now. Come after you’re done shopp
Luca nodded. Pierre could not bear the common risks that came with transactions as such. She did not expect him to go so far."The boss was so annoyed by him that he taught him a lesson in Russia, thinking he would learn his lesson. However, after Pierre left Russia, he’s been using his network to investigate Abel. He has the boss’ contact number, and Boss felt that things would go down if he let Pierre be. As such, he asked me to deal with the matter," Amur said.If Pierre had been obedient, this would not have happened."He asked for it..." Luca said softly."Yes, if he hadn’t continued to dig into Abel, the deal would have ended as such and the boss wouldn't have done anything," Amur said as he believed that the deal was fair as it was mutually consensual.All transactions involved risk.Abel took the risk, and so did Pierre.The money and the goods had changed hands but Pierre constantly bothered Abel to get a refund, screaming that the proposal was fake. The money was in
"Wait," Amur said. He walked to the living room, picked up two full bags, and handed them to her."What's this?" Luca glanced at the bags with a supermarket logo printed on them."Snacks for the kids..." Amur explained, "I just so happened to buy them when I was at the supermarket.""Thank you." Luca did not reject his kind offer. When he deliberately emphasized the phrase ‘just so happened to buy them', she thought that the awkward Amur was a little cute.As she looked back on the past three years, he had matured a lot and could take on responsibility.She knew that Amur rejected Luke because of her previous experience. Nevertheless, he knew that the three children were innocent."I'll be making a move, then." Luca picked up the two bags and left."I'll send you off." Amur walked quickly to the door and opened it.Luca shook her head and said, "You've been on the road for a few days. I'm sure you're tired. Rest early. The driver is downstairs. I won't be in any danger.""Okay
The grandma he referred to was Allison.The child's words reminded Luca of Allison. She had been to Korea for a while, and she was not sure how the operation went.She did not hear Luke mention it either.However, she caused such a scene when she went back to Crawford Manor for the New Year, so it was likely that no one cared about her surgery."Is Mr. Crawford back?" Luca asked the child."Daddy knows that you were going to have dinner with Uncle, so he came back early. He’s now working upstairs," Tommy said.Luca picked up the two bags of snacks, went into the pantry, and kept the treats out of the child's reach.Tommy loved to eat. She was worried that they would overeat, so she put them up a little higher. When they wanted to eat them, Aunt Neile could take the snacks for them and control the amount so that the children would not overeat."Are you done with your cartoons?" After she put away the snacks, she asked Tommy who was following behind."Yeah, the show’s over." Tom
The water temperature was getting colder. After Luca washed up, she stood up and realized that it was not her bathroom. She had no bath towel and pajamas here, so she had to pick up Luke's bath towel to wrap herself with.By this hour, the children should have fallen asleep. They would not notice if she went back to her room to get her pajamas.With that thought, Luca walked out of the bathroom.Luke was not in the bedroom, so she guessed that he had gone to take a shower in the toilet opposite.Luca opened the bedroom door and found that the corridor was completely silent. She quickly walked back to her bedroom and opened the door when Luke happened to come out of the bathroom."Mr. Crawford, you're done washing up," she said before realizing it was nonsense.Luca was so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole and put her head in it."Mm." Unlike her, Luke had brought his pajamas with him before he went to take a shower. He was wearing pajamas while she was wrapped in a bath towe
Next Monday was also the first day of school for the kids. Zander would be in charge of taking the children to school, so the only thing that needed to be done in the morning was to prepare breakfast for them.Luca figured that she could do it alone, so she agreed to Aunt Neile’s ask."Okay, thank you, Dr. Craw." Aunt Neile breathed a sigh of relief."It's nothing. If there’s nothing else you want to talk about, I have to head to the office now. By the way, when Mr. Crawford goes to work, please remind him to bring along his coffee," Luca reminded her."Okay, Ms. Craw." Aunt Neile watched Luca leave, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.She was glad that Luca agreed. Otherwise, she would have to trouble others to send her grandson to school.After she stepped out of the villa, Luca got into Warren's car and headed to the office.It was a big day for Watson Biopharmaceuticals. The drug developed was classified as medical insurance drugs, so they would discuss the price wit
“As long as he stays out of your sight, I won’t make a move,” said Ray.If Gordan were not one of Luke’s pals, he would have been long gone.Anyone who dared to mess with someone Ray cherished would not be let off easily. The only reason Gordan was still breathing was thanks to Luke.“Alright, Ray. Just let it go. I’ve moved on and started a new life. Plus, I’m studying at Capital University. We have mutual friends, so running into him is inevitable. If that happens, we’ll just be strangers. There’s no need to step in for me or act impulsively.” Just as Vivian finished speaking, the doorbell rang.“Is it the clothes delivery?” asked Ray.“No, while you were talking with Mr. Crawford, I asked someone to buy some medicinal cream. The ones here work better than the ones in Russia. A little massage with it should help you heal faster,” Vivian said, grabbing a mask and hat before heading to the door.“Miss, is the boss alright?” asked one of Ray’s subordinates.“He’s fine. Did you ge
When Ray heard that there was a 90% chance of success, he could not help but ask, “Can you walk me through your plan?”“The prison where Kassy is being held actually has an underground passage. I’ve already spoken with the prison officials, and we can use that passage to transport her out. It connects to the sewage system, which leads directly to another detention facility. "The only catch is that this facility’s underground pipes don’t connect to the outside world, so the remaining 10% risk lies in moving Kassy onto the main road and securing her at the new location.“This whole operation can be done without anyone noticing, which is why I’m confident it’ll work.” As Luke explained, he pulled out a detailed map of the sewer system. “Here’s the layout I had someone retrieve. This is the starting point, and this is the destination. If we take this route, we can move Kassy without alerting Abel’s people.”Abel’s men were keeping a constant watch outside the prison now. That was prec
Luke had no idea what kind of mindset the person who poisoned Vivian had. However, he found Gordan’s current behavior quite intriguing.“Luke, what’s with that look?” Gordan felt uneasy under his gaze.“You seem pretty concerned about Vivian,” Luke leaned back on the couch and said thoughtfully.Gordan froze for a moment before laughing it off. “What? No way! Why would I care about her? Come on, Luke, don’t say stuff like that. If she hears it, she might start getting ideas.”Luke could not be bothered to expose his act and got straight to the point. “Why are you here?”“Speaking of that, I almost got sidetracked by that woman.” Gordan quickly pulled out his phone, grimacing. “Man, Ray really didn’t hold back. I need to get some treatment for these bruises later.”Luke took the phone and tried to unlock it. It needed a passcode. He handed it back. “Unlock it.”“All set, boss.” Gordan unlocked the phone and went back to pressing an ice pack against his face.Luke scanned the scr
It was the sound of a body slamming onto the ground.Gordan’s furious curses rang out. “Damn it! You're really going all out, huh? Do you think I'm scared of you?”Another loud thud followed.Vivian frowned. What the hell were they doing? Were they really going to fight until one of them won?Both of them were skilled fighters. If they kept this up, neither would walk away unscathed.“Enough!” shouted Vivian.The two men locked in the fight froze for a moment.“Vivian, stay out of this. I’m beating him to a pulp today,” growled Ray, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was not in great shape, but neither was Gordan.“Ray, I don’t want to see him,” said Vivian. She did not want Ray fighting him. It was not to protect Gordan but because she did not want Ray getting hurt.Also, she definitely did not want Gordan to see her like this. She could already picture his smug face, his sarcastic remarks and his gloating.“Fine. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll just beat
After returning to the hotel from the hospital, Vivian felt much better.To her, the fact that Ray had taken her to the hospital meant there was hope for the future, which lifted her spirits. She picked up an apple from the fruit platter the hotel had provided and took a bite.“Ray, this apple is really good. Want to try one?” asked Vivian.Ray shook his head. “You go ahead. By the way, can I take a look at the luggage you brought from Russia?”Vivian nodded. “I only hung up my clothes. Everything else is still in the suitcase. You can just take the things out.”Ray walked into the bedroom, pulled out her suitcase, and opened it. Inside were just books and a few other small items, nothing unusual.“You didn't bring any food with you?” asked Ray.“I haven’t really been in the mood, but the food here is way better than Russian food, so I didn't feel the need to bring anything.” Vivian’s tone was lighthearted now that she was in a better mood.“That's true.” Ray agreed, then asked
Ray's tone turned serious. “Alright, I'll make the arrangements immediately. Dr. Craw, once the toxicology report is out, we’ll still need your help.”“For toxicology cases like this, I recommend combining both modern medicine and traditional herbal medicine. Don’t worry, if I can help, I definitely will,” Luca assured him.“Alright, thank you.” Ray expressed his gratitude and ended the call before updating Luke on the situation.Luke reassured him, saying, “If Vivian was really poisoned, don’t worry. Previously, Luca discovered that her biological mother had been poisoned with a slow-acting toxin. She prescribed herbal medicine and used purely traditional herbal medicine to detoxify her. It didn’t take long for all the toxins to be expelled, and her health fully recovered. So, rest assured. If it’s something she can fix, she’ll do everything she can.“Besides, once we identify the exact problem, the doctors will be able to step in and help, right?”“Yes. Thank you both in advance
Gerald walked over. “Ms. Sanchez, what's wrong?”He was eager to get back upstairs and stash his cigarettes before someone noticed and took them.Hera yanked open his bag, glanced at the cigarette brand, and scoffed. “I thought it was some expensive brand. But it's just this? And you’re acting all deferential to her over this?”Gerald was rendered speechless. “I knew Ms. Craw was going out, so I asked her to bring these back for me. This is the brand I’m used to. Maybe it’s not expensive to you, but for me, it’s what I can afford.”Realizing she had misspoken, Hera felt a bit awkward. She quickly changed the topic. “Still, is a pack of cigarettes really worth you being so grateful to Luca? How much could it have cost?”“It’s not about the money,” replied Gerald. “It's just a nice surprise. I never expected to get anything out of helping Ms. Craw, and this kind of unexpected gift has nothing to do with the price. Besides, I'm not being overly grateful. I'm just happy.”He was ba
Luca’s lips were already swollen and flushed from Luke's kisses.That deep shade of red, reflected in Luke’s eyes, was utterly captivating. It tugged at his nerves, stirring an uncontrollable desire within him.At that moment, he had only one thought, and it was to completely lose himself in her.…The two of them stepped out of the bedroom.Vivian quickly turned her back and greeted Luke when he saw him coming out, “Hello, Mr. Crawford.”“Vivian, don’t worry. Everything will get better,” replied Luke.Vivian simply hummed in response.Ray gave them a grateful nod as Luke took Luca’s hand and led her away.It was only after hearing the door close that Vivian finally turned back around.Ray glanced at her and said, “Vivian, they’re your friends. You don’t have to act this way around them. They won’t judge you.”“I know they won’t…” Vivian let out a soft sigh. “I just feel like I look terrifying right now. I didn’t want to scare them, so I avoided facing them directly. But it’
“I once treated someone who had been slowly poisoned over a long period of time. Their pulse was similar to Vivian’s. Given that your family has good genetics, yet Vivian is different from the rest of you, and her skin improved after leaving her original environment, all of this confirms my suspicion.“Could it be that someone in your family has been poisoning Vivian? That would explain why her skin ended up like this.”“If she really has been poisoned, then would staying away from that environment or identifying the person responsible help her get better?” asked Ray.Luca shook her head.“The poison I’ve encountered before was a slow-acting toxin that kept the victim’s skin dark. I don’t know exactly what it was, but long-term exposure to any poison has an effect on the body. It's just a suspicion now. I need to consult someone I know. And honestly, I can’t be sure what’s really causing Vivian’s condition.“Is her skin deteriorating so quickly because she was poisoned once more a